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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231214">Clue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkLemony/pseuds/DarkLemony'>DarkLemony</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Walking on a tightrope [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Case Fic, Gen, Murder Mystery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:54:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkLemony/pseuds/DarkLemony</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Conan and Kogoro are stranded in a scary mansion during a storm with Kaitou KID and a cast of suspicious characters.</p>
<p>Can be read as a standalone</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan &amp; Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Walking on a tightrope [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1436314</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have trouble letting go... "I'll post the rest of the series soon," I said. Almost a year ago.<br/>Well, anyway. I  hope you enjoy this little story and I will upload once a week (there, I said it. Now I have to do it).<br/>English is not my first language, so I appreciate constructive criticism. </p>
<p>This story is heavily inspired by the 1985 movie Clue, but it's more of a case fic than anything humourous. But if you know the movie you might recognize some scenes. </p>
<p>Also, a big thanks to the reviewers of the first installment in this series (which you don't have to read to understand this one), Neyane and ashstorm26617. I let too much time pass to answer your reviews, and then I felt awkward and didn't reply at all. Also something I am hoping to improve...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Clue </p>
<p>Conan sat in the front of Kogoro’s rental car and read his copy of The Sign of the Four, occasionally glancing out of the window. They were on their way back from a client that had wanted the great sleeping detective to find an heirloom that the man´s wife had lost. The client's mansion had been a two-hour drive from Tokyo, and because Ran was on a school trip until Sunday, Kogoro had been forced to take Conan with him. The boy had found the heirloom - a tacky necklace - in thirty minutes. 
The daughter-in-law had hidden it to force the owner of the house to give her husband a credit. It had been a case so easy and typical that Conan was almost insulted on Kogoro's behalf. 
He hadn't even had to use his dart watch because the older detective had easily deducted the culprit after Conan had told him where he had found the necklace while "playing".</p>
<p>They were in and out of there in under an hour. The client had been a grumpy old man and wanted them gone as soon as possible. He hadn't even offered them anything to drink and now, still more than an hour away from Tokyo, Conan was starting to get thirsty. Kogoro also wasn't in the best of moods as the "high reward" the man had lured the detective with out to the middle of nowhere was barely enough to cover the costs of the rental car. </p>
<p>It was growing dark outside and black clouds gathered on the horizon.<br/>
Soon there wasn't enough light for Conan to read anymore, so he put his book into his backpack and looked outside, trying to make out anything in the fast-approaching dusk. After another ten minutes, there was a loud bang from the front of the car and dark smoke rose from the hood. After a few more meters the vehicle came to a standstill, the motor rattling precariously. Kogoro muttered some things under his breath that would have been very inappropriate to say if Conan had been a real child. 
The older man left the car and tried to open the hood. He almost burned his fingers so he used the sleeve of his suit to touch the hot metal.<br/>
He cursed some more and Conan climbed out of the car to stand beside Kogoro. 
Even he, with absolutely no experience with mechanics, could see that the motor was shot and they wouldn't be able to start the car on their own. Kogoro seemed to have come to the same conclusion and took out his cell phone.<br/>
He cursed again.<br/>
"No reception," he muttered, looking down the street with a frown. </p>
<p>They were in the middle of some narrow mountain road and the next city was half an hour by car away if Conan remembered correctly.<br/>
"I think we just passed a mansion a few minutes back, maybe we can use their phone," he suggested tiredly.<br/>
Kogoro looked back the way they had come from thoughtfully.<br/>
"Okay, you stay here and I'll go and ask them."<br/>
"You really want to leave me here alone? In the dark? It is going to rain soon, and who knows how long you will be gone?"<br/>
Conan was a bit irritated at how irresponsible the detective was, but as it was the norm, he didn't think much of it. He just really didn't want to wait alone in the car and even Kogoro seemed to recognize that it was a bad idea.<br/>
"Well then, grab your bag, brat, and come. The sooner we can call for help, the sooner we can get home."<br/>
Conan didn't lose any more time and grabbed his bag and his jacket before following Kogoro back down the street.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Conan had seen the mansion just a few minutes before their car broke down, so he had hoped they would be able to find it again before it began to rain, but after they were walking just a few minutes, a downpour that made the mountain road slippery had started. 
Now he hoped they would be able to find the house at all with their constricted vision.<br/>
They were walking for about fifteen minutes, both of them entirely drenched by now, when Conan saw lights shimmering through the trees. It took them a few more minutes to find the entry of the driveway, but finally, they stood in front of a big western-style mansion.<br/>
Standing right in front of it, it looked even larger. It was just two stories and the attic but still pretty imposing. The European style, with its hard edges and gothic stuck, made it look quite spooky. The only thing missing was thunder and lightning and this could have been the beginning of a horror movie.<br/>
Not finding a bell to ring, Kogoro knocked the old door knocker that looked like the head of a barking dog.</p>
<p>It took a while, but just as Kogoro was about to knock again a man opened the door, Kogoro almost hit him in the face with his raised fist. 
The man wore a black tailcoat and looked how you would imagine a traditional English butler to look. His gray hair was slicked back and he had an annoyed expression on his face.<br/>
"What do you want?" he asked rudely, but his voice still held a sophisticated tone.<br/>
Kogoro frowned before hastily putting down his still raised hand.<br/>
"Our car broke down a few hundred meters down the road and we just wanted to ask if we could use your phone for a moment to call for help," Kogoro asked politely. Conan noted that the butler was only a few centimeters smaller than the detective, and even though he had gray hair, he seemed only a few years older than his temporary guardian. He was wringing his hands behind his back, and on second glance, Conan could see that he was not only annoyed but more so nervous.<br/>
He mustered the two of them skeptically before nodding reluctantly.<br/>
"You can use the phone in the parlor. Please follow me."</p>
<p>He opened the door wider to let them in. Right behind him was a small platform where coats and shoes were hanging. A few stairs lowered into a big foyer. Conan could see five doors and a staircase leading upstairs.<br/>
"Please leave your wet jackets with me and wear some slippers," the man said, staring at them the whole time they were taking off their wet clothes.<br/>
Kogoro had just been wearing his usual suit, so he was wet to the bone, and while Conan had had an extra jacket, the rain had been too strong, so he was also drenched. Before they could finish, one of the five doors opened and a young woman entered the foyer. She had short black hair and wore a floor-length black dress that accentuated her curvy body. As soon as Kogoro saw her, he stood up taller to impress the pretty woman. 
She looked around, apparently searching for something. When she saw them, her face lit up, and she ran towards them. Once she had climbed the two steps to the platform, she slung her arms around a stunned Conan. </p>
<p>"Conan-kun! How nice to see you again! How are you?"<br/>
Her voice was a bit shrill and she had sunken on her knees to cling to the mini detective. He felt her breath against his ear, and suddenly he heard her whisper in a distinctly manly voice.<br/>
"Please call me Yuna Sanada."<br/>
It took him a second to recognize the voice as that of the famous phantom thief Kaitou KID. Conan frowned for a second before putting on his most childish face.<br/>
"Yuna-san! What are you doing here?"</p>
<p>If KID was telling him who he was, something had to be seriously wrong in this house.<br/>
The thief was not as bad as Conan’s usual criminals and while they did work together sometimes, it was still highly suspicious of the moonlight magician to just tell a detective who he was posing as. If he hadn't said anything, Conan would have taken much longer to discover that something was not right, and he might not have noticed the disguised thief at all. Even if it pained him to admit it, KID was good at what he did, and if Conan wasn't expecting him to be there, he had a hard time recognizing him.</p>
<p>KID let him go a bit and stood up again but still had his hand on Conan's shoulder.<br/>
"Oh, I am here with a friend. He is a friend of the owner of this lovely house. Oh my, you are completely wet, Conan-kun. What happened?"<br/>
"Our car broke down and it is raining outside."<br/>
A few other people came out the same room as the young woman, probably having gotten curious about "Yuna’s" loud voice.<br/>
"Who do have here? Sanada-san, do you know these people?" a big man with a booming voice asked. Behind him was a tall gaunt man, an older woman in a traditional Japanese kimono, a strict looking woman that was about the age of the first man and another elderly woman in a bright pink suit.</p>
<p>The group came to the front door and "Yuna" smiled at them.<br/>
"This is Conan Edogawa. He and his little group of friends are detectives and helped me once to find something I lost. And this is his guardian, the great sleeping detective, Kogoro Mori!"<br/>
She even made a dramatic hand gesture as she introduced Kogoro. Conan couldn't help rolling his eyes as the older detective preened at being recognized.<br/>
It turned out that the man with the booming voice was the owner of this mansion and a big fan of the sleeping detective. The older woman in the kimono turned out to be his mother, the pink suited one was a friend of hers, and the strict looking woman was his wife. The gaunt man introduced himself as  Keisuke Yoshida, the physician of the owner, a certain Shingo Nakamura. 
Kogoro was immediately pulled into a conversation by Nakamura-san and the others, but Conan was held back by KIDs hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the thief disguised as a woman, but he was watching the group of people. 
The owner finally brought Kogoro to the parlor and he used the phone to call for a towing service that would not only help them with the car but also bring them back to Tokyo.</p>
<p>He looked unhappy when he put down the phone.<br/>
"They will be here in three hours at the earliest because of the storm."<br/>
"Well, that is too bad. By the time you will be back in Tokyo, it is going to be almost morning. Why don't the two of you just stay the night? I would love to hear some stories from the great detective, Mori-san," Nakamura-san suggested. The butler looked even more nervous.<br/>
"I don't think that is a good idea. Perhaps one of us could drive them back to Tokyo, and the car can be taken care of tomorrow."<br/>
"Nonsense! We will just drink a nice glass of wine and eat a nice dinner. Don't worry, Tanaka, you are always prepared for guests anyways, so a guest room is sure to be ready," Nakamura-san laughed boomingly. </p>
<p>"Conan-kun is still really wet. I'll take him to my room. I should have a sweater that he can wear, "Yuna" said but didn't wait for an answer, he just took Conan's hand and led him up the stairs. Once upstairs, the boy was led into a room down a hall, and KID closed the door behind them.<br/>
Once the door was closed, Conan let go of the hand still holding his and spun around to face the thief.<br/>
"What the hell is going on here?"<br/>
The woman's face lost some of her cheer and if he looked hard enough, Conan could recognize a purely KID expression on her face, even though he had never seen the thief look so weary.</p>
<p>"I have no idea. I am here because Nakamura-san is said to own a big diamond that I wanted to check out. It turns out he sold it almost six months ago, but anyway.<br/>
I flirted a bit with a friend of the family, Tarou Shimada. I think he was a friend of Nakamura-sans wife's sister or something like that. He invited me to his weekly dinner with the Nakamuras and at the beginning, everything was okay, but about an hour ago, he went out to go to the toilet, but he never came back. 
The butler, Tanaka-san, told us that Shimada-san left to go back to Tokyo, but I can't believe that. He was supposed to be my ride back and now I'm stranded here. Nakamura-san offered me a room for the night, too. But after Shimada disappeared, everyone got really weird."<br/>

KID sat down on the bed and watched Conan. He had been really glad when he had seen Conan because this house weirded him out, but now he doubted if it had been the right decision to involve the child detective and give up his identity. </p>
<p>He trusted Conan to solve the mystery and be able to take care of himself, but he was still a detective and could possibly betray him to the police. He was also still a child, and if there was something dangerous going on in this house, he had probably just put Conan in danger.<br/>
The little detective looked contemplative and that made him look older than merely six years old. Kaito had noticed before that Conan didn't act like a normal child a lot of the time. With Kaito himself, he was always more mature so much so that he often almost forgot that his favorite critic was only a little boy. Especially because he was the one who had come closest to actually capture Kaitou KID. </p>
<p>Now it seemed Conan was in investigation mode.<br/>
"Please tell everything that you know about this house and who is here right now. And then tell me exactly what has happened here tonight."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2</p>
<p>He sneezed, and Kaito couldn't help but think that it was incredibly cute.<br/>
"First of all, I am going to give you that sweater I promised," he declared and got up to go to his bag. As this was supposed to be a simple resonance mission, he didn't have much with him, just a change of female clothes, his phone, and fake documents. The phone was of no use out here as there was absolutely no reception in the mountains.<br/>
He would only be missed the next evening because his friends all thought he was away with his mum. Jii and his mother knew where he was, but they also knew that it could take a while. So he was on his own - until his favorite critic had suddenly appeared, looking like a drowned rat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, Nakamura-san had this manor build just before his wedding in reference to old European manors, but I couldn't get my hands on the blueprints. Nakamura-san told me he loves mystery novels and ghost stories, so I am almost sure that there are some hidden passageways somewhere. I have some ideas where some could be, but I would have to take a closer look to be sure. Nakamura-san, his wife and his mother live here all the time, and there is the butler, Tanaka-san, and a housemaid; I think she is called Ana Ayaka. There is also a cook, but I haven't met her yet.”<br/>
Kaito made a triumphant noise as he had found what he was looking for. The sweater was a light pink, but Conan wasn’t really in a position to complain. The thief handed the piece of clothing over and sat on the bed to continue his story.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shimada-san and I arrived here first, I think it was about five o'clock, Nakamura-san greeted us, and we went to the study to drink something. Shortly after us, the doctor, Keisuke Yoshida, arrived. It seems these dinners are a regular thing where friends from all over are invited. The last guest, Minako Midorima, a friend of Nakamura-sans mother, arrived at about half-past five, and then the ladies of the house joined us in the study, and we drank some wine. Well, the others all did. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just after six, Shimada-san went to the toilet and never came back and everyone got suddenly weird. I mean, the mood wasn't that good from the beginning, but it got worse.<br/>
I think the elder Nakamura-san and Nakamura-sans wife don't really get along well. They kind of just ignored each other the whole evening. Yoshida-san was nervous the entire time, and Shimada-san is actually a real asshole. There where subtle taunts and quips exchanged the whole time we were here between him and the Nakamuras, but nobody said anything outright.<br/>
I think Midorima-san is somewhat naive, she didn't seem to notice the tension at all. They all didn't think it strange that Shimada-san disappeared and left me alone without a way back to Tokyo. And then you appeared."</p>
<p>It was just after seven now, and the rain outside had developed into a storm with thunder and lightning.<br/>
Conan had his thinking face on, and he had put on the sweater Kaito had given him. It dwarfed his small body, but he didn't seem to mind too much.<br/>
"Let's get back down before they get suspicious," he finally declared.<br/>
Kaito stared after the boy as he shuffled out of the room with determination.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they arrived back downstairs, the others had already relocated to the dining room where the maid was dishing up dinner. Through a window in the wall, they could see into the kitchen where the cook stood behind the stove cooking their dinner. </p>
<p>Dinner was a delicious three-course meal and the atmosphere was getting lighter and lighter the more wine Kogoro and the owner drank. They discussed some of Kogoros cases. The two older women were deep into their own discussion. The doctor tried to involve Yuna and the wife in a conversation, but the thief focused on Conan, and the other woman instead asked Kogoro some questions of her own, masterfully avoiding saying even one word to her husband.</p>
<p>After they finished eating, they relocated to the study. The butler had just poured another glass of wine for everyone and Nakamura-san was showing Kogoro his weapon collection in a cabinet behind the desk when the light went out.<br/>
There were a few seconds of confused silence before ruffling clothes could be heard. Midorima-san screamed, and another few seconds later, the light went on again.<br/>
Kaito had grabbed Conan in the dark and was holding him in front of his breasts.<br/>
It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened. On the floor lay the body of the owner. Nobody moved and Kaito couldn't believe what he was seeing. The first one to move was Nakamura's mother. When she saw her son on the ground, she ran to him and shook his shoulders. She didn't make a sound, even when Kogoro took her by the arms and led her to one of the two couches in the room.</p>
<p>Yoshida-san crouched beside the body and felt for a pulse. After a few seconds, he shook his head.<br/>
"He is dead."<br/>
Midorima-san ran to her friend and hugged her as the older woman sank into her arms, having trouble holding back her tears. She didn't make a noise, but her shoulders shook tellingly.<br/>
"I can't find any wounds on him and he was fit for his age," the doctor stated calmly.<br/>
"Maybe he was poisoned," suggested Kogoro.<br/>
Midorima-san screamed.<br/>
"What if it was the wine? I also drank from it," she asked with a wavering voice.</p>
<p>Kogoro shook his head no, but before he could say anything, a scream sounded from the room next door. Everyone jumped up and ran over. Conan, Kaito, and Kogoro in front of the group.<br/>
The room next to the study was a library with towering bookcases, where the group found the distraught maid. As his persona for the evening was a gentle, caring woman, KID was the first one to speak to her.<br/>
"Are you okay? What happened?"<br/>
"The wine! I drank it too. What if it is really poisoned? I'm going to die, too!"<br/>
"Were you listening?" Yoshida-san asked incredulously.<br/>
"As I was going to say earlier, it is highly unlikely that the wine has been poisoned as we have all drunken from it," Kogoro assured them.<br/>
It took a few minutes to really calm her down, but then the whole group made their way back to the study to take a look at the body again.<br/>
Nakamura-san, the victim's mother, was the first one through the door, but she didn't even cross the threshold before she sunk to the ground in a dead faint.<br/>
"What is happening? Is she alright?"<br/>
Midorima-san was frightened, but the doctor stepped forward to check on the woman. Kogoro helped him straighten her out so she could lay on the ground more comfortably.<br/>
"She is alright. Just unconscious."<br/>
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. While the others were distracted, Conan sneaked past the adults and went into the study where he saw what had made Nakamura-san faint. Or rather what he did not see.<br/>
"Ahem. Uncle. The body is gone," he informed the rest.<br/>
Everybody streamed into the study where they all could see that it was true.</p>
<p>"Who steals a corpse?" Yoshida-san asked.<br/>
"Maybe he was just unconscious?"<br/>
"No, he was definitely dead. He had no pulse."<br/>
Midorima-san was helping the freshly awoken mother stand up, and Kogoro was in detective mode.<br/>
"Is there anyone else in the house?"<br/>
"Just the cook. She should be in the kitchen."<br/>
Kogoro ran across the foyer into the kitchen, the rest of the group hot on his heels. </p>
<p>The room was spacious but empty. Kogoro was the first in the room, and while it was a big kitchen, it got a bit crowded with eight adults and a child in it, so he got pushed back against the wall where he hit a hidden lever that opened a wall closet. The body of a burly woman fell out of that closet. Startled, the detective tried to catch her, but she was to heavy for him, so he was buried beneath her weight and fell to the floor himself. As her back now faced the room, they could see that a knife was sticking out of her back.<br/>
"Well, she probably didn't take Nakamura-sans body," Kogoro stated as he worked himself free of the dead woman.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Let's go back to the study and call the police."<br/>
The group left the kitchen and made their way back through the foyer to the study. "Yuna" bowed down to Conan to whisper in his ear, just loud enough to be heard by the persons nearest to them.<br/>
"I have to go for little girls for a moment."<br/>
Conan nodded but didn't watch KID walk to the toilet that was right beside the kitchen. Just as the group reached the study, a feminine scream was heard. </p>
<p>Everybody spun around and saw how Yuna was attacked by Nakamura-san. His hands lay on her shoulders, but after a moment, Conan realized that he was really dead and had probably been propped against the toilet door and had fallen forward when KID had opened it. It took a second before KID managed to put the heavy man to the ground, and by then his mother was close to fainting again. She was being supported by her friend Midorima-san. The whole group was disturbed, and as they didn't want to stress the victim's mother more than necessary, Kogoro and the butler Tanaka-san carried the body to the parlor.</p>
<p>Conan stood beside KID and looked at the thief with concern. Despite the heavy makeup, he could see that the other boy was pale. A slight tremor shook his frame as he stared after the men and the corpse. When KID noticed Conan watching, he gave the boy a shaky smile. He didn't say anything but followed the others.</p>
<p>The group met again in the study and Kogoro tried to call the police, but the phone was not working anymore. As they had called off the car service, they couldn't wait for that either. The newly minted widow came up with a suggestion.<br/>
"Maybe someone could take my husband's car and drive to the nearest town. Or as far as it takes to get cell phone reception."<br/>
"And who is supposed to drive. Anyone here could be the killer, and I don't want them to just disappear and leave the rest of us here alone," Kogoro asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Maybe two of us could go?" suggested Midorima-san hesitantly, but Conan shook his head.<br/>
"If one of them is the killer, they could just kill the second person and disappear anyway."<br/>
Midorima-san looked ill just imagining that scenario.<br/>
"How about you drive alone, Mori-san. I think we all can be sure that you are not the one that killed my husband or the cook."<br/>
Kogoro didn't look convinced.<br/>
"What about Conan? I can't leave him here alone."<br/>
"But I have Yuna-san. She can take care of me. And I know she didn't kill Nakamori-san either. She held my hand the whole time it was dark in the study."<br/>
"It was probably Shimada-san anyway. He told Tanaka-san he was going back to Tokyo, but, in reality, hid in the house to kill my son."<br/>
Nakamura-san was still upset, but she was also slowly getting angry and found her composure in her rage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So Mori-san, take my son's car and call the police so that scoundrel can be arrested. We are going to search for Shimada. But first, please get poor Nana's body and put her with my son. I don't want another dead body getting up and walking around."<br/>
Nakamura-san finally took control, and it was apparent who was the lady of the house. Her daughter-in-law had been quiet the whole time, quite unlike the stern but talkative woman they had met at dinner. It could be explained with the death of her husband, but Conan thought there was something else about her, but he couldn't quite grasp what was wrong.<br/>
Kogoro and Tanaka-san, with the help of Yoshida-san, brought the cooks body to the parlor where the corpse of the house owner already lay. Then the detective took the key to the car and braced the storm, leaving Conan with KID.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he was gone, the other people got nervous. The maid held onto Yoshida-san and made a good impression of a frightened rabbit.<br/>
"What if Shimada-san killed poor Nana and is now waiting to kill the rest of us?" she asked.<br/>
The widow looked contemplative.<br/>
"Maybe we should split up and search the house for him. If we all take some kind of weapon from my husband's collection and are really careful, we should be able to overpower him should we manage to find him."<br/>
"But what if one of us is the killer? If we split into pairs, one part of a pair might be alone with the killer!"<br/>
"Well, at least then we know who the killer is," KIDs humor was not really appreciated, but they still agreed to draw matches to see who would go with who and which story of the house the pairs would search.<br/>
KID made sure to be paired with Conan through a simple trick. Because he was the one to hold the matches, he could easily make sure that they got the same ones.<br/>
Midorima-san and Nakamura-san's widow were searching the cellar, his mother and the good doctor the ground floor, the maid and butler the first floor, and finally, Conan and KID took the attic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Conan and KID made their way up the stairs leaving Tanaka-san and Ayaka-san on the first floor. It took them a while to find the stairs to the attic and they had to ask Tanaka-san for the way. The attic wasn't very big, so KID looked around once and then he turned to Conan when he didn't find anyone.<br/>
"You think Shimada did it?"<br/>
"No, not really. I fear he might actually be dead too. I have some theories on who did it, but there are still many open questions."<br/>
Faintly they could hear a scream from downstairs. It was a female voice, but they couldn't pinpoint who had screamed and where the cry had come from. </p>
<p>They looked at each other and went back to the stairs as fast as they could, but before they were halfway down, the light went out again. KID put a hand on Conan's shoulder to keep the boy from falling down the stairs in the dark. They climbed downstairs carefully and felt their way along the walls. Just as they had reached the banisters that lead to the ground floor, the lights went on again. They could see Tanaka-san standing in the hallway beside a junction box, obviously having just pulled the switch to put on the lights again. The first victim's wife was standing beside the open cellar door and Midorima-san was rushing out of it, almost running into the younger woman. Yoshida-san and Kikyo Nakamura were coming out of the kitchen. The group met in the middle of the big foyer. </p>
<p>"Who screamed?" Tanaka-san asked.<br/>
"That was me. I found Shimada-san." Midorima-san looked pale and was shaking quite bad.<br/>
"He's in the cellar?"<br/>
"Yes. He is dead."<br/>
Conan looked around.<br/>
"Where is the maid?"<br/>
Everybody else looked around too and the butler shrugged.<br/>
"We split up. When the light went out, I went immediately to the junction box so that we wouldn't be in the dark for too long."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Conan noticed that the door to the billiard room was open.<br/>
"Yoshida-san, did you and Nakamura-san search the billiard room already?"<br/>
"No, we started in the parlor and found a secret passageway to the kitchen."<br/>
Conan went to the billiard room, the others followed curiously. Midorima-san screamed again as they saw the maid laying in the billiard table, lifeless, with a rope wound around her neck.</p>
<p>Half an hour later, they all sat together in the study. The butler, the doctor, and the widow all nursing a glass of scotch. Everyone was tense, but nobody said a word. Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door and everybody flinched as the noise echoed through the empty hallways. After a second, Tanaka-san found his composure and went to do his duty to open the door for the unexpected guest.<br/>
"Maybe that is Mori-san with help?"<br/>
Midorima-sans voice was hopeful, but Conan had to destroy that hope.<br/>
"That is highly unlikely, he couldn't have gone to the nearest town in that short time. And organizing help would also take some time."</p>
<p>No one was more surprised than Conan when it was indeed Kogoro who followed Tanaka-san back into the study.<br/>
"Uncle Kogoro! What happened? Why are you back already?"<br/>
The detective looked a little worse for wear, he was wet again and dirt caked his hair and face.</p>
<p>"There was a landslide. I just managed to avoid it. First, there was a small one that blocked the road, but just as I was getting out of the car to see if I might be able to move the earth to the side and drive by anyways, an even bigger landslide came and almost hit me. I managed to avoid it myself, but the car was buried. I made my way back here on foot. We will have to wait until the storm passes before trying to call the police again. Maybe the phone company will have fixed the line by morning."<br/>
He looked pretty exhausted and Tanaka-san handed him a glass of brandy.<br/>
"I will get you a blanket, Mori-san. Maybe you also want to borrow some clothes from me?"<br/>
"We really shouldn't split up. Did you find anything while searching the house?" he asked.<br/>
Conan smiled sardonically.<br/>
"We found Shimada-sans body. And Ayaka-san was killed. The light was out again at the time, so anyone could have done it. Expect Yuna-san and maybe Midorima-san as she had just found Shimada's body."</p>
<p>His explanation was met with a tired look. KID saw how exhausted everyone was and a look at the clock in the room told him that it was almost midnight and he had an idea how he could get Conan alone again to ask him if he knew anything about what was going on. </p>
<p>While he hadn't met these people before tonight and they hadn't been really welcoming to his character, he didn't want to guess who of them was a murderer the whole time. He didn't like being out of his depth and hoped that his favorite critic was able to shed some light on the matter. When he had researched him a bit after the last heist, he had come to know that homicide was actually the norm for Conan and that it was rare that he chased after thieves. He couldn't help but be a bit pleased about that information.</p>
<p>"I think Conan should really go to sleep. It is late, and we are all tired, think how tired a little kid has to be."<br/>
"You can bring him to the room I showed you earlier and put him to bed."<br/>
KID shook his head to Tanaka-sans suggestion.<br/>
"I'd rather not leave him alone. If Shimada-san didn't murder the others, then either the killer fled out there in the storm, or it is one of you. I will stay with him."<br/>
"I will show you where you can find some more blankets."<br/>
Nakamura-san stood up from the chair she had been resting in, but Kogoro stopped her.<br/>
"Nobody should go alone anywhere. The killer could still be hiding in the house. You should take someone else with you. It's not ideal but better than Nakamura-san walking through the house on her own."<br/>
Nakamura-san didn't look very happy, but she nodded her consent anyways.<br/>
"I'll go with you."<br/>
Midorima-san also stood up, and her friend looked at her gratefully.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They left the solemn atmosphere in the study behind. After the door closed behind them, Midorima-san shook herself once and then took the lead with a new spring in her steps. <br/>"Well, good to be away from all that gloom. And to think one of them might be the murderer!"<br/>"Not one of us?" KID asked.<br/>"Oh no! I trust Kikyo with my life and the little boy said you held his hand during the blackout, so I know it can't have been you. But honestly, at least it got the right ones."<br/>She faltered for a step, apparently only just noticing what she had said and to whom.<br/>"Oh, I'm sorry, Yuna, dear. You were here as Shimada-sans date, weren't you? I forgot."<br/>"No problem. I didn't know him all that well. We only met last week, and when he asked me if I wanted to come with him to visit a friend with a gorgeous mansion, I just said yes," Yuna was fast to explain.</p>
<p>Conan perked up. He was holding KIDs hand and was doing his best to ignore that fact. The thief had grabbed his hand on the stairs and Conan didn't see how he could dislodge it without making a scene. <br/>"You said it got the right ones. What did you mean with that, auntie?"<br/>"Well. I don't want to talk bad about the dead, but Shimada-san has always been a good-for-nothing. I never knew what Kikyo's daughter saw in him. They were friends for years and shortly before her death, they became a couple."<br/>"They never actually were a couple. He told me at her funeral that he was just an alibi for her. Apparently, she had another lover she didn't want my son to know about," Nakamura-san was fast to point out.<br/>"Your daughter?"<br/>"She died almost a year ago. Suicide."</p>
<p>"Shimada still wasn't a good guy. A different girl in his arm each week, and to this day, I am not sure what he actually did for a living.<br/>And if we are being honest, your son also wasn't always the most faithful."<br/>"Well, yes. But what was he to do? Not only did this bitch flirt with him wherever he went, with a wife like Yurie it is no wonder that he started an affair. But please remember that my son was killed tonight so be careful what you say about him. He wasn't the best man, but he was still my son." <br/>Midorima-san looked at the floor chagrined. <br/>"What bitch are you talking about?" <br/>"Why Ayaka-san, the maid, of course!" Nakamura-san answered. Midorima-san looked flabbergasted that she had let such a word slip in front of a six-year old.</p>
<p>They had arrived in front of Yuna's room and Nakamura-san pulled out a few blankets from a closet in the hallway and handed them to Yuna. <br/>"Enough with all this talk. Bad enough that three people died here tonight!"<br/>She took a few more blankets, said a short good night, and pulled her friend back down the stairs with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kaito closed the door behind himself and listened until he could hear the two women go down the stairs. When he was sure they couldn't be overheard, he turned around and watched Conan. The boy had pulled himself up on the bed and was swinging his legs while watching Kaito in turn. <br/>"So, have you figured it out yet?"<br/>His tone was inquiring, but he also felt a bit desperate. Murders really weren't his thing and he could do without someone else dying. The little detective looked pensive.<br/>"I have."<br/>Kaito breathed a sigh in relief, but Conan wasn't finished.<br/>"I know who murdered Nakamura-san and the maid. And I know who killed Shimada-san and the cook. And that is our problem.</p>
<p>They were not killed by the same person. In fact, they were killed by three different people. I think when Shimada-san went to the toilet earlier this evening, he saw something he shouldn't have seen and was killed because of that. The butler wanted to get rid of the owner and only killed Shimada-san out of necessity. He probably saw Tanaka-san poisoning Nakamura-sans drink and was killed because of that."<br/>"But Nakamura-san wasn't poisoned."<br/>"No. The one who killed him wasn't Tanaka-san. It was his wife. She hit him with a candle holder when the lights went out. I think that was a spontaneous act and not planned. She had a room full of suspects and one person was already missing, the perfect person to pose as the killer. But she didn't hit hard enough, and after a few minutes, he got up again and staggered out into the hallway. The rest of us were distracted by the cook in the kitchen, but Nakamura-san saw her husband and hit him again, actually killing him this time, and hid him in the toilet before joining the group once more where she acted as if she had been there the whole time."</p>
<p>"But Yoshida-san felt for his pulse. He is a doctor, so he should have been able to tell if Nakamura-san was dead or just unconscious."<br/>"I am coming to that now. That is actually the reason Yoshida killed the cook. I searched her in the kitchen. There was a picture of him with her and a few other people in her wallet. It looked like it was taken at a graduation ceremony of a culinary school. And both of them were graduates.</p>
<p>There were some things he said that didn't add up. For example, why didn't he try to help when Nakamura-san fainted in the study? Yoshida is not actually a medical doctor. I think he forged his own certificates and is practicing illegally. The cook knew about this. I don't know if she tried to blackmail him or if he just didn't want to take the risk anymore, but he killed her when everyone was in the library. He used the secret passage in the study to go to the kitchen and afterward, he pretended to have been there the whole time. <br/>Both the murder of Nakamura-san as well as the murder of the cook would have only taken a few seconds; going back to the group, it shouldn't have taken more than two minutes, so nobody noticed anything."<br/>"And who killed the maid? You said there were three killers so one of them had to have done it. Was it Tanaka-san? He was on the same floor as the victim."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No. This murder was the only one really planned. I think Ayaka-san saw Nakamura-san kill her husband and tried to blackmail her. Or Nakamura-san didn't want to let he affair with her husband stay unpunished. Anyway. They agreed to meet in the billiard-room after Nakamura-san switched off the lights and then the scorned wife strangled the affair of her husband with the cord of one of the curtains."<br/>Kaito sat down slowly on the bed beside Conan.<br/>"What a mess."<br/>He let himself fall on his back. The black dress he was wearing was a bit restricting around his chest as he was sitting on his skirt and he had to make sure that his wig was still sitting as it should. <br/>"But we should be able to overpower them all. We just have to take them one on one."<br/>"You mean Kogoro has to take them one on one. You might get away with helping a bit, but you are still a young woman, and I doubt you have got a Karate title somewhere in that background of yours?" </p>
<p>He received a disillusioned shake of the head.<br/>"And I am just a child. Nakamura-san and Midorima-san both look as if a strong gush of wind could blow them away. But the real problem is actually how we are going to let Kogoro know who the killers are. If I just knock him out to give his usual conclusions, he will be out for about ten minutes, and when he wakes up, he still won't know what is going on."<br/>Kaito thought a minute on this problem, and after some consideration, he came up with a tentative plan.<br/>"How about we lure him and the two old ladies away from the rest and then you knock him out and give his deduction. When he wakes up, we and the other two will just tell him what he said and maybe then we can come up with a plan to take care of our three murders. I don't fancy them realizing that they all have killed someone and then teaming up to kill the rest of us and get off scotfree."</p>
<p>It was a lot easier than they thought to get the three people they wanted into a room with them. Conan had played on having forgotten to get his goodnight from Kogoro. The two older women offered to accompany them back upstairs so that Kogoro didn't have to come down alone. It seemed the friends had decided they were safe together and didn't even think about splitting up. <br/>It was easy to dart Kogoro and with KIDs help, the deduction show was childs play. <br/>Nakamura-san had to sit down after they had finished explaining. <br/>"Why did Tanaka-san want to kill my son? He has been with us for almost twenty years!"<br/>"I'm not sure. But he did have a bottle of poison in his jacket pocket. Conan saw it."</p>
<p>Before they could really discuss what they were going to do, Kogoro slowly came back to consciousness.<br/>After they had told him what "he" had said, it was actually the detective who came up with a workable plan. They all went back to the study where the other three were still waiting and Kogoro began his show. He didn’t fall asleep but he sat down on one of the two couches in the room.</p>
<p>"I finally know who murdered Nakamura-san, Shimada-san, Ayaka-san, and the cook. It was you, Yoshida-san!"<br/>All three not in the know looked surprised, but Kogoro just continued with his deduction.<br/>"You hit Nakamura-san with a candle holder when the lights went out and after you pretended that he was dead when he was just unconscious. While we were all in the library, you used the secret passage in this room to go to the kitchen and stab the cook.<br/>Then before you joined the rest of us, you saw that Nakamura-san was still alive and killed him for real this time. Because you didn't have time to bring the body back to the study, so you hid it in the toilet. You killed Ayaka-san because she saw you hiding the body and Shimada-san was your first victim. You killed him when he went to the bathroom."</p>
<p>The doctor sprang up from his seat and tried to flee through the door, but Tanaka-san quickly recovered from his shock and held him. Kogoro himself also sprang up, and together the two men were able to wrestle the struggling man into a chair and bind him to it with a rope that Nakamura-san the elder had given them.<br/>When the doctor tried to say something, "Yuna" pulled a black scarf somewhere out of her dress and gagged the man. Before everyone could settle, Kogoro used a hit he knew from the police academy to take down Tanaka-san. The widow screamed in surprise, but Conan was fast to reassure her.<br/>"Don't worry. Yoshida-san actually only murdered the cook because she knew he was a fraud, but uncle Kogoro wasn't sure he could take them both at the same time, so we had to split them up and take out the stronger one first."</p>
<p>The woman looked still a bit shocked but also secretly pleased. Probably because she thought she would get away with her murders. While she helped Kogoro to tie up the butler, she couldn't help but ask.<br/>"So Tanaka-san killed Shimada-san, poor Ayaka and my husband? Why would he do that?"<br/>"Oh no, he didn't kill your husband and Ayaka. Only Shimada-san because he saw that he was trying to poison your husband, but he didn't do it in the end. That was you."<br/>It took her a second to realize what Kogoro had said, but when she did, she sprung at the detective and pushed him back. Kogoro fell to the floor and the woman used his momentary confusion to flee the room. But before she reached the door, her mother-in-law stood in front of her, her face looking furious. The small woman looked the approaching murderer of her son in the eyes and took her down in seconds. Conan recognized a karate move that Ran had used last year to win the championship and looked at the old lady in surprised awe, as did Kogoro and KID.<br/>"In my time, I was karate champion in Middle School," was all the woman said before settling down once more to wait for morning.</p>
<p>Shortly after dawn, the phone company called the house to let them know that the phone line had been fixed. Kogoro lost no time to call the police. Tanaka-san had woken up and told them what had really happened with Shimada. Conan's deductions had been spot on. The butler had planned to kill Nakamura-san and Shimada had seen him prepare the poison. He had tried to talk to the man but Shimada had mocked him. It turned out that the butler had been together with the daughter of the house and Shimada had acted as her boyfriend to keep unwanted attention from them. But her brother had found out about them and threatened to kick his sister out of the house and fire her lover. The woman hadn't been able to live with that thought and had killed herself. Now Tanaka had wanted to take revenge for his dead lover.</p>
<p>At ten in the morning, all three culprits were escorted to a police car. Kogoro, KID, and Conan said their goodbyes to Nakamura-san and Midorima-san. They were accompanied back to Tokyo in another police car, leaving the manor behind them, the sun just rising over the horizon.<br/>An hour later, they arrived in Tokyo and let Yuna go at some corner. Conan watched her wink and wave as the car drove away. He sat back in his seat and sighed. KID really was a menace. The police were never going to get that statement they had been promised.</p>
<p>Kaito stared after the car and let out a relieved sigh. That wasn't how he had thought his night would go but it had certainly been interesting.<br/>The End</p>
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